Thank you for the question on Biblical prophecy and current world history, “How might Daniel 2:21 be proving itself true through current world history? “He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings.”
The Vision that King Nebuchadnezzar is given to him as he pondered the future of his kingdom and the kingdoms that will come after him. We can identify with that as one wonders who will be the next President of the United States or the one after him in 2024 and beyond. Will the United States entered in a steep decline and become irrelevant to future world history or will she continue to have an influential affect on world history? If one lives in the Middle East or in Asia, the same question would still apply to them as to us. What is going to happen in the future course of human history?
The citation of Daniel 2 must be taken into context. Daniel gives the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He reveals this to King Nebuchadnezzar the five kingdoms that are to come into this world.
Daniel 2 says this, “Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: 29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages).
God declares to King Nebuchadnezzar there will be five kingdoms in this world. He is he first of the great kingdom with four others to come. In Daniel’s life time he saw the rise of the Medes-Persian Empire that overthrew the Babylonian Empire. History tells us that the Greek Empire followed the Persian Empire by the conquest of Alexander the Great of the known world. The fourth kingdom is interpreted to be the Roman Empire that conquered the world but its rule fracture because of the divided people. The Holy Roman Empire was never fully united with the invading differing racial groups, to the rise of varying beliefs of Protestantism to Catholicism. Today modern Europe is united together by a political and economical alliance with varying racial groups and religious views.
Bible scholars debate the fulfillment of Daniel 2 as it relates to Matthew 24 and Revelations. If the question is looking for specifics as to current modern history, the Scriptures does not reveal the specific details of the kingdoms of the world. Does the rise of Asian countries become the army of the East that comes across the Euphrates? Does the Middle East countries of Muslims represents the army of the South? Does the European nations represent the armies of the West? Will there be the Battle of Armageddon?
As one reads further into the Book of Daniel, the Scripture reveals further details as to what is to occur. Historians date the Book of Daniel as after the fact events while Christians believe that they were prophetic in nature before the kingdoms come. The fifth kingdom is the kingdom of God that will destroy all other kingdoms of this world. Bible scholars debated whether there will be a Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem? Will there be a temporary peace treaty between the Muslims and the Jews so that the Temple can be rebuilt. It seems from a Christian perspective the recent recognition of Jerusalem as the state capitol of Israel moves in that direction and with the coming peace accord with the Arab nations. Is this setting the stage for the coming Fifth Kingdom? I believe so. Has God used President Donald Trump in withdrawing its influences in European affairs will eventually lead to the rise of the Antichrist? Has God allowed President Xi Jinping to become the next world power with the decline of American influence? Are we seeing the rise of a one world government with the recent Covid pandemic to control world’s affairs for not only health, but with one world economy and religion? The world’s government may want to put to an end of “religious” war by having one religion and one world economy with one world climate with the downfall of capitalism to the rise of socialism.
Will this Presidential election begin the down fall of Americanism in the world whereby this country will no longer be seen as the mightiest country and the dominant world economy? Will either a President Trump or President Biden begin to affect American history and world history in the next 5 to 10 years from now?
Daniel states that God is bring the world’s affair to a coming clash so that the Fifth Kingdom will dominate all other kingdoms. Is it just a random history or is it a guided history? I believe there is the guided history by the hand of God.
SUMMARY: The coming 2020 Presidential election is setting the stage for the Fifth Kingdom to come as world events begin to revolve away from America and begin to spin toward the European Union, the Asian Block, and the Middle East with Israel being the center of attention. The nations are being stirred.
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